The point I was trying to make is that we've become used to surpluses in the EI account. In the early 1990s, we had four years in a row where we had deficits. The concern—and what I'm most concerned about—is, yes, we want premium rates to go down, but we don't want this to be a back-door way to reduce benefits for workers. And given that we had four years in a row of deficits in the account are now heading into a period of economic downturn, and rates are lower than they were, I need to be assured that this system will not be used as a back-door way—because how much you can change the premium rate is limited—for the government to turn around and reduce benefits. That's what I'm looking for.
I appreciate the information you've given us. We will be asking other witnesses over the next couple of meetings for their views on that as well, but that is the concern we have. I'm not concerned about this in good times; I'm concerned about it in bad times, which we appear to be headed into.
Thank you.